Nikolai Zhetsyev
Nikolai Zhetsyev '''(1789-1855), historically known in some English sources as ''Nicholas Zetsef''''', was the ''Ayüparavik ''(Supreme Leader) of Norik under the Natelysta regime from 1832 until its collapse in 1855 during the Great War of Norik. The son of former leader Alexei Zhetsyev and the nephew of Dmitry Jasenovich, Nikolai rose to power during a turbulent time in the empire, as industrialization had led to a population explosion and a vast urbanization and the central government attempted to consolidate its power in the wake of the constitutional movements of the late eighteenth century. Initially critical of the brutal and repressive policies of his uncle, Zhetsyev soon turned to even more extreme policies as he sought to purge his government of dissenters; after condemning the horrible first two ogarra under his uncle, he oversaw three more, describing a "vast ethnic cleaning of the countryside" that killed as many as four million people and drove over ten million more out of their homes. His policies after the Second Vassa Rebellion are often seen as having caused a man-made famine in Mikrit Vassar, and other possibly preventable famines across the country. In 1852, the Reva met and voted to have him dismissed and a radically new constitution instated; Zhetsyev responded by massacring the entirety of the Reva and declaring the institution's abolition. Only days later, in Öberat, the Noriki Republic was declared; in several months, the Iroba Republic would be declared as well in Porosa. The ensuing rebellion, the Great War of Norik, would lead to the end of three hundred years of Natelysta rule and provoke the largest loss of life of any conflict in history. Nikolai Zhetsyev is often remembered as one of the cruelest and worst leaders in all of history, and often tops lists of most evil figures in history, sometimes alongside his uncle. Origins Zhetsyev was the second son of Alexei Zhetsyev and his wife Marinova Jasenovyna. At the time of his birth, his father was a Natelysta general who had been amassing power around him and growing closer and closer to the aging Ayüparavik Grigory Vladich. He was thirteen when his father came to power, and they moved into the grand Natelysta Palace in Nolytek. He was raised with private tutors and surrounded by massive amounts of wealth and influence, performing very well and far outpacing his elder brother Boris. While they both joined the Party, Nikolai accelerated far more quickly through the ranks. By his father's death in 1932, Nikolai Zhetsyev was among the most powerful figures in the nation. He found himself at odds with Dmitri Jasenovich, who had seized control as Alexei Zhetsyev grew old and senile; Zhetsyev saw Jasenovich as weak and incompetent, and allowing the state to crumble from the interior. A rebellion in the Vassa province in 1932 against the policies of Jasenovich gave Nikolai Zhetsyev an opporunity to displace him, helping put down the coup as using it as a means of power transition. In April 1932, Zhetsyev was named Ayüparavik alongside Jasenovich, and in June Jasenovich was expelled from the Natelysta. Six months later he was dead. Rule Zhetsyev decided that it was of utmost importance to immediately regain the power that had been lost during his father's declining years and during the reign of Jasenovich. Even though the Vassa rebellions had helped him rise to power, Zhetsyev decided to punish the Vassa through a system of so-called "reparations taxes" that they owed to the central government. These taxes largely crippled the agricultural Vassa economy, and, coupled with a poor harvest in 1933, led to widespread famine. A virtual military occupation of the Vassa lands resulted, and an enormous crippling of their economic abilities. Population estimates are unknown for the Vassa famine of 1833, but it is believed that there was a total demographic loss of as many as a million people. Zhetsyev hoped that his treatment of the Vassa would serve as an example, and, for some time, it did. Zhetsyev continued to centralize power, leading to large amounts of hostility to his reign from within the Natelysta ranks. From 1835 to 1840, he began rebuilding a paramilitary for intra-Party operations, murdering a number of powerful figures, including his brother Boris Zhetsyev in 1839. Resentment to Zhetsyev's iron fist grew slowly throughout the 1840s. The Party had been purged, but Zhetsyev's paramilitary continued to grow; while he